October4, 2013

Washington D.C. – Congressman Eliot Engel, the Senior Democratic Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the following statement regarding the passage of a resolution by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe urging the European Union to ban male child circumcision.

“I am extremely concerned by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s passage of a resolution urging the European Union to ban male child circumcision practices. To somehow label male circumcision, a tradition practiced by Jewish and Muslim communities for thousands of years, a “human rights violation” is ludicrous and offensive. Even more disconcerting is that this push to ban circumcision seems to be gaining traction in Europe – where memories of previous efforts to ban circumcision and other ritual Jewish practices are still vivid. I call on the EU to stand up for religious freedom by rejecting this fringe campaign and paying this resolution no heed.”